


Birthday Gift

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Jack goes to Bath and Body Works with Alex, and the strong smells make him feel sick.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Birthday Gift

**Author's Note:**

> This is a request!

“Wait, so the last time you went to a Bath and Body Works was when we were in high school?” Alex asked as he started to pull out of Jack’s driveway in the direction of the mall.  
“Yeah dude, the smell was a little too much for me back then, so I never wanted to go,” Jack replied.  
“I see. Well, are you going to be okay going there now?” Alex continued.  
“Oh yeah, I’ll be okay. It never did anything too badly to me, and it’s been such a long time, so I’m sure that I’ll be fine now,” Jack replied. Alex just shrugged it off, then talked to Jack about their touring plans for the near future.   
Jack had agreed to go to the mall with Alex so he could get his girlfriend a birthday gift. This would be Alex’s first birthday with his girlfriend, since they’d only been together for a few months. Due to this, Alex had asked all of her friends what a good gift for her would be. They all agreed on Bath and Body Works and gave him a list of all of her favorite things that the store carried.   
Alex asked Jack to come with him, just to make sure that he got all of the right things and didn’t mess up due to being nervous. Once they got to the mall, Alex found a parking spot up close to the front.   
“So, are we just going to the one store? Or are we going to some other places, too?” Jack asked, getting out of the car.  
“I’m fine with anything, I’m free for a few hours,” Alex replied.  
“Maybe we can get the trip to Bath and Body Works done, then get lunch before hitting up a few other stores,” Jack suggested.  
“Good idea. I’ve been craving the Chinese food from the food court from here lately,” Alex replied. The two of them walked inside and went over to the store directory since it’d been a while since either of them had come to the mall.  
“Okay, it looks like it’s on the other side of the mall,” Jack said, pointing to where the store was on the map.  
“Of course it is. Sorry we have to walk all that way now,” Alex said with a laugh.  
“I don’t care dude, we have plenty of time. Let’s just head on over,” Jack replied. Once they got about halfway through the mall, there was a popcorn kiosk that produced a strong, buttery smell, which made Jack’s stomach turn some. He was a bit surprised by this; when he was younger, strong smells made him a bit queasy, but this had mostly gone away in his adult life. This made him a bit anxious about going to Bath and Body Works, since the smell would likely be stronger than the one from the kiosk.   
Jack took a deep breath and tried to push this thought out of his head. He told himself that this happened with the popcorn because it was a food smell, and that’s why it made him feel sick. Surely, the store would be better in comparison, right?   
“Hey, there it is! Right at the end of the strip!” Alex exclaimed, pointing to the store. The blue and white pattern was lit above the entrance with the name in front. It wasn’t too crowded since it was about lunchtime on a weekday.   
Jack followed Alex inside, and was instantly hit with an intense, strong smell. He wasn’t even sure of what he was smelling, since the store had so many different fragrances. His stomach started to twist some, but he did his best to ignore it.  
“So, what’s on the list from her friends?” Jack asked as Alex pulled out a piece of paper.  
“There’s, like, seven or eight things on it. Since we do have a lot of time, I want to try to find all of it. This is her first birthday with me, so I want to really blow her away,” Alex explained.  
“Understandable. Let me see the list,” Jack replied. There were some things that sounded like they would be close to each other, and some that he had no idea as to where to start looking for it would be.  
“Do you want to find the things that are in the Warm Vanilla Sugar scent? I’d think they’d all be together,” Alex stated.  
“Sure, I’ll find you once I get it all,” Jack replied. His stomach started to twist more, and he swallowed hard as he walked over to a wall with a bunch of different products on it. In the middle, he found a shelf stacked high with products in the correct scent.  
“Okay, perfume, shower gel, and lotion, this should be easy enough,” Jack mumbled to himself as he read all of the labels on the products. He found the perfume and shower gel first but was having trouble finding the lotion.   
As he scanned the shelf more, he put a hand to his stomach, noticing that the smell was starting to make him feel worse. He also noticed a small headache starting to develop in the left corner of his head, which only intensified the nausea. Even though he was starting to have some trouble reading the bottles due to this, he was able to eventually find the lotion towards the top of the shelf.   
Once he had everything, he found Alex standing by a big table with a bunch of candles on it. Jack set the products into the handbasket that Alex now had, getting his attention.  
“Hey, you found everything, thanks, man!” Alex exclaimed.  
“No problem,” Jack replied with a fake smile.  
“Hey, sniff this for me, I think it’s a better smell than the one on the list,” Alex stated. Before Jack could say anything, Alex shoved the candle under his nose. It was a frosted cookie scented candle, and the rich smell made Jack feel much worse, causing him to gag.   
“Woah man, all you had to say was that you didn’t like it,” Alex said with a laugh. Instead of replying, Jack gagged again, showing Alex what was really going on.  
“Oh shit, are you alright?” Alex asked. He quickly set down his shopping basket and put a hand to Jack’s back.   
“Alex, I think I’m- I think-“ Jack cut himself off with another gag. He put a hand to his mouth as he quickly ran out of the store, in search of a bathroom. Luckily, there was one right next to the store, and it was single occupancy. He went inside and started to get sick right after he sat on the ground.   
Meanwhile, Alex was in the store, and felt very confused and concerned. He knew that he needed to check on Jack, but he didn’t want to have to put back everything he’d already found. An employee walked past him, and he got an idea. He grabbed his basket and walked over to her.  
“How can I help you?” she asked with a big smile.  
“Hey, could I possibly leave this basket behind the register or something? I really have to go find a friend, but I want to come back and buy all of this after,” Alex explained.  
“Yeah, that’s just fine. It’ll be by the register waiting for you when you’re back,” the employee replied, taking Alex’s basket. Alex said a quick thank you before making his way out of the store. He saw the bathrooms right next to the store and assumed that Jack would be there. He walked down the hall to the door of the men’s room, then knocked on it.  
“Jack, are you in there?” Alex cautiously asked. Instead of getting a reply, he heard Jack getting sick, which made him cringe a bit. He did feel bad for his friend. If he’d known that this would happen, he wouldn’t have had Jack come inside of the store with him.   
After a few minutes, Alex heard the toilet flush, then the sink run. A few seconds later, a very pale Jack walked out of the bathroom. He was still holding his stomach, even though it didn’t feel quite as bad now.  
“Jack, are you okay? I’m so sorry that this happened,” Alex stated, concern in his voice.  
“I feel a bit better now that I threw up, but I don’t think it’d be the best idea for me to go back into that store,” Jack replied in a quiet voice.  
“I don’t blame you on that. Do you want to sit on a bench outside of the store? I still have to buy everything,” Alex suggested.  
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” Jack replied. Alex led his friend over to a bench that was across from the store, before going back inside. After quickly finding everything on the list, he bought everything and went over to where Jack was.  
“Thankfully, that’s done. How’re you feeling, man?” Alex asked, taking a seat next to Jack.  
“A bit better. Hey, sorry about this happening,” Jack said, sounding slightly embarrassed.  
“Don’t apologize, it’s okay dude. I’m sorry that I had you come in with me, I didn’t think this would be a problem,” Alex replied.  
“Honestly, I didn’t either. I can’t remember the last time I actually got sick from an intense smell like that. Normally, I just get a bit queasy, but then it goes away and I’m fine,” Jack explained.  
“Well, the smell in there was really powerful. It didn’t make me feel sick to my stomach, but it did make my head hurt a bit,” Alex replied.  
“Oh damn, well, I’m kind of glad to hear that, it makes me feel a bit less embarrassed by what happened to me,” Jack said, making them both laugh some.  
“So, do you still want to shop and eat, or do you want me to take you home?” Alex asked.  
“We can stay. I don’t really want to eat yet, but I’ll be okay to shop and stuff. This was one of those times where I had to get sick in order to feel better,” Jack explained.  
“Sounds good, man. Let’s go to the Vans store,” Alex suggested.  
“Let’s do it!” Jack replied. They stood up and went in the direction of the Vans store.  
“I learned something today,” Alex randomly stated.   
“What’s that?” Jack asked.  
“Shopping with Rian is a lot easier,” Alex joked, making them both laugh.  
“Shut the fuck up,” Jack said, playfully shoving Alex before they walked into the store to continue their day of shopping.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is another request for XxBlurryDiamondxX! I've got more requests going up throughout the week, and I've figured out what I'm going to make my 100th story, which should be going up on the 30th, assuming I can keep posting daily! It's a very personal story, still an ATL story, but written almost like a diary entry. It'll all make a lot more sense when I share it! As always, don't hesitate to send requests if you have them, I love writing them since it's what you guys really want to read!! I still have quite a few things written that are my own ideas that I haven't posted yet, but they'll be up eventually. I hope you all enjoyed this story, thank you so much for reading. Lots of love, Liv.


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